we'll show you secrets behind the debates. >> for months mitt romney and president obama have attacked each other, talked past each other, but three times this fall they face each other. debates can make a big difference. >> you'll never have as many people watching your two candidates together in a presidential election as you have on debate night. >> the campaigns can't control the debate the way they control everything else. >> no matter what you do as a manager to get them ready, he's still got to step in the arena. it's just two of them. you don't know. >> it's three agencies of government when i get there that are gone. commerce, education, and the -- what's the third one there? let's see. >> one brain freeze can end your campaign. >> the -- umm. >> commerce? commerce. and let's see -- >> rick perry was a serious contender until this debate. >> oops. >> forgetting is bad, and looking bad is bad. in the very first tv debate, richard nixon refused to put on makeup. it hurt him. nixon later said -- >> more important than what you say is how you look on television. >> so campaigns ob